How to Stop Overthinking

We all have times when we worry, whether it’s about work, health, family, relationships or a host of other reasons. But is there a point when you may think and worry too much?

Overthinking is an unhealthy habit that typically causes more stress by focusing on the negative instead of coming up with logical solutions. For example, we may start worrying about a specific situation at work, which leads to worrying about money or losing jobs.

But why do we tend to overthink? This is often due to cognitive errors, which are basically errors in logical thinking, such as all-or-nothing thinking and overgeneralisation. Although overthinking is hard to break, Natacha Duke, a registered psychotherapist, outlines strategies that can help.

“Healthy distraction can be useful,” says Duke. Activities like reading and taking a walk can help keep our stress levels down. They can reduce our baseline level of anxiety and make us less likely to overthink.

Duke adds, “Keeping a daily journal can help us actively manage stress before our feelings expand out of control.” As we practise journaling our emotions and thoughts, it becomes easier to identify when we’re starting to worry. Stopping worrying early will ultimately help us feel better and stay focused on what matters most to us.

Some people constantly think about questions like “What if I lose my job?” or “What if I get sick?” While having these thoughts is normal, it becomes a problem when we focus only on the worst-case situation. “For every ‘what if’ worry, change this to an ‘if then’ statement where you come up with ideas to deal with the worry or the worst-case situation,” says Duke. “Focus on having a concrete plan in place.”

So, face the problems, then challenge and reframe them. Finally, we will develop effective ways to cope with overthinking.

3 . Why We Listen to Music with Lyrics(歌词) We Don’t Understand

From French electronic to K-pop and Spanish jazz, it’s common for us to listen to songs we don’t necessarily understand.     1    . Sometimes, we even sing along to them without knowing the dictionary meaning of lyrics.

But why? It all starts with what’s called “sound symbolism(语音表意),” which refers to the study of the relationships between utterances(发声) and their meaning. In music, there’s something about the appeal of words as sounds, beyond their meaning in a language.     2    . This might explain why we are fond of a song even without knowing its lyrics.

    3    . One example of such techniques is scale(音阶). Songs in major scales are brighter or happier, while minor scales usually sound slightly darker or bluer. Our brain is wired to respond to a certain sound, and our breathing and even our movement go with the sound we hear.     4    . Besides, elements of sound and music, like pitch, melody or harmony, also have an affective, emotional, and even physical impact on listeners. Through a complex of these elements, music adds so much meaning and dimension to lyrics. That is to say, the combination of all these creates the meaning far beyond the lyrics’ dictionary meaning.

    5    . Lyrics are powerful tools for helping us recognise, express and reflect our emotions. All in all, there’s value in whatever immediate appeal we find in the music we listen to, whether or not we understand the words. Music, after all, is a universal language.

4 . A person could be forgiven for believing 20 years ago that the Internet would soon revolutionise academic publishing, because it became possible for publishers to spread scholarly work at the click of a button — much cheaper than the traditional subscription-based (订阅) model. Recognising the opportunity, many scholars and librarians began to advocate a new, open access model, in which articles are made freely available online to anyone. The result would be a true online public library of science.

However, more than two decades later, the movement has made only slight progress, and the traditional subscription-based model remains entrenched.

Fortunately, things are changing. A big shoe dropped when the University of California (UC) Libraries, one of the biggest library systems, declined to renew its contract with Elsevier, a leading scientific publisher. Elsevier wanted the Libraries to pay two fees: One for its package of licensed journals and the other for the use of Elsevier’s open access model. UC Libraries wanted the licensed journals fee to cover the open access fee; they also wanted open access to all UC researches published in Elsevier journals. When the two sides couldn’t come to terms, the Libraries walked away.

Actually, the open access revolution is more likely to be led by research funding agencies, who can use their purse power to promote open access. A team of funders, Coalition S, insisted that any research they fund should be published in a journal that makes all of its articles freely and immediately available to the public, which is called Plan-S.

Now that some librarians and funders are flexing their muscles, what should academics do? The worst response would be to complain that Plan-S deprives(剥夺) them of academic freedom. Some thoughtful academics might worry that a shift to open access would affect their promotion. After all, subscription journals are more familiar and more prestigious (有威望的) in the current system. However, if enough academics support open access, the system could reach a tipping point beyond which subscriptions no longer signal prestige. Reaching that point would take considerable time and efforts, but it is possible.

When the journal system began in 1665, it was kind of a form of open access. Journals allowed academics to learn openly from one another. It was only in the 1900s that the journal system became thoroughly commoditized(商品化). Now is the time to bring it back to its roots.

6 . In my eyes, my mother is capable of doing anything, especially chores such as ironing and cooking. However, teaching her how to use the Internet is as frustrating as untangling(解开) wires.

Once, my mother came to me to ask for help on how to find a recipe for all-beef Lasagna. I gave her very simple verbal(口头的) instructions—go to the home page of a particular search engine and type in “recipe for all-beef Lasagna.” Fifteen minutes later, she came to me, telling me that she was unable to find the Internet icon(图标). I went over to the computer and pointed out the icon to her.

Another fifteen minutes went by when I felt a tap on my shoulder. This time, my mother said that she was unable to search for the particular recipe. Gritting(咬) my teeth, I walked to her room again. I saw that she had typed “all beef La saga” instead. With frustrated strokes, I keyed in the correct spelling.

Yet another fifteen minutes went by again when my mother gingerly tapped my shoulder. I stormed next door without bothering to hide my frustration. The main page of the website had not shifted one bit. I then realised that she did not know how to scroll down the page. What had initially seemed like an easy task was turning out to be an intense one.

To avoid being disturbed again, I decided to find the recipe for her. Without a word, I rapidly downloaded a few recipes, printed them out and passed them to my mother. However, seeing her embarrassment, I began to regret my impatience during the whole process.

At that moment, memories flashed through my mind. When I was young, my mother endured my endless questions, enlightening me with much patience. Now that I am older, the roles slowly reverse. As my mother may increasingly need my help, shouldn’t I rethink how to respond to her needs?

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When Kurt Benirschke started collecting skin     1    (sample) from rare and endangered animals in 1972, he didn’t have a clear plan on     2     could be done with them. He then set up a collection bank called the Frozen Zoo. Benirschke passed away in 2018,     3     his efforts are very much alive. Today, the Frozen Zoo is the world’s     4    (large) animal cryobank, with genetic materials from over 10,500 animals. In 2020, a baby horse known as “Kurt” was born, cloned using cells from the Frozen Zoo.

Bandung, one of Indonesia’s major cities, is only 150 kilometers from Jakarta, the capital, but the drive is at an average of three hours even with a freeway     1    (connect) the two cities. Fortunately, a high-speed railway     2     (fund) by China is due to open in 2023, and the hours-long travel     3     (cut) to 40 minutes. It is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and for Indonesia, the beginning of a brand new network of transportation across the country.

When I was 14, my father and I took a bike trip to explore the Sideling Hill Tunnel(隧道). After we     1    (enter) the dark tunnel, I shone my flashlight around and saw walls covered in graffiti(涂鸦).     2     I was frightened, with my father’s constant encouragement, I managed to ride out into that bright afternoon at last. This trip always reminds me of my father,     3     gives me the courage to keep riding through life’s dark tunnels.